Ricky Manning, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Ricky Manning Jr. at the Chicago Bears 2007 Training Camp. |
|
| Chicago Bears — No. 24 | |
| Cornerback | |
| Date of birth: November 18, 1980 | |
| Place of birth: Fresno, California | |
| Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | Weight: 193 lb (88 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
|---|---|
| 2003 for the Carolina Panthers | |
| Career history | |
| College: UCLA | |
| NFL Draft: 2003 / Round: 3 / Pick: 82 | |
Teams:
|
|
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Richard "Ricky" Manning, Jr. (born November 18, 1980 in Fresno, California) is a professional American football cornerback who plays for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He formerly played for the Carolina Panthers. He is also known for his arrest record for violence.
Manning played high school football at Edison High School in Fresno.[1]
Contents |
[edit] College career
Manning started 45 consecutive games for UCLA, which ranks as the second longest streak in school history. His 13 interceptions tie him for seventh all-time among Bruin players. In addition, he made first-team All-Pac-10 for his last three years.
[edit] NFL career
Manning was taken in the third round (82nd overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft by Carolina. His first pick came in only his second game, as he intercepted Atlanta Falcons quarterback Doug Johnson. With injuries to the secondary, Manning eventually took over a starting role. His first interception to be returned for a touchdown came against the New York Giants. But he will be forever remembered by Panther fans for his performance during the 2003-04 NFL playoffs. In the NFC Divisional game against the St. Louis Rams, Manning's timely interception of Marc Bulger set up the game-winning touchdown to propel the Panthers into the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. There, Manning made a permanent mark on Panther history by intercepting Donovan McNabb three times en route to the Panthers' victory. Manning became the first rookie to win Defensive Player of the Week honors twice in the same postseason, and the first player since Antonio Freeman in 1995.
During the Panthers' injury-riddled 2004 season, Manning helped anchor a defense that ranked first in the league in interceptions. Against the Rams, Manning and teammate Dan Morgan picked off two passes each, the first game where a pair of teammates had a pair of interceptions in three years.
Ricky became a restricted free agent in the following offseason, and the Bears signed him to an offer sheet on April 21. The Panthers declined to match the offer, so they will receive a third round pick from the Bears in the 2006 NFL Draft. Manning intercepted five passes during the 2006 season. He intercepted two passes from Matt Hasselbeck, and later returned an interception for a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings during week thirteen. He also had an interception during the Divisional Playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks.[1]
[edit] Arrests
On April 23, 2006 Ricky Manning, Jr. attacked a man, Soroush Sabzi [2], in a Denny's restaurant after teasing him for working on a laptop computer.[3] He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly fighting a man and eventually pled no contest to felony assault. Manning faced up to four years in prison because of a previous assault charge in 2002, for which he received probation.
According to the police report, Manning and former UCLA teammates, Tyler Ebell and Maurice Jones-Drew bullied a student sitting at another table. Manning confronted the student with "Are you a faggot?", "You f---ing Jew," and then called him "an ugly f---ing Jew" and a "faggot." The student asked to be left alone and the football players beat him unconscious. [4]
Two days before the incident the Bears had signed Manning to an offer sheet. In light of the assault charges, the Panthers declined to match Chicago's offer and so Manning signed a $21 million deal with the Bears two days later. In September 2006, Manning pled no contest to felony assault in exchange for another probation deal. Later, Manning proclaimed his innocence. He acknowledged having words with the victim then pushing him in the head—but after that, according to him, his former UCLA teammates did the damage. "Yeah, I did it" explained Manning (AP report). "If I don't plea to this I have to go through trial. We're in season now. Then I'd have to put it in the hands of a jury. There are tons of things that can happen with a jury... I just can't risk that."
Manning's previous 2002 assault charge resulted from a fight between Manning and bodybuilders Brian Herbert and Seth Spiker outside a Westwood bar. Originally charged with two counts of felony assault, Manning pled innocent to one count after the other was dropped. [5]
The NFL suspended him for only 1 game for this incident.
[edit] References
- ^ Fontana, Cyndee. "Patriotic Exercise Fresno coach cheers his former player in defeat", The Fresno Bee, February 2, 2004. Accessed November 15, 2007. "It's the ring that eluded Ricky Manning Jr. in 1998, when his Edison High School Tigers lost to Sanger in the championship game."
